


To Keep You Safe, Dear

by PandaPaladin



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Based on that cameo video by Brenda Strong, F/F, Fluff, Lillian is a less terrible mother, One Shot, She gave us our supercorp rights, Why? Because Lena Luthor Deserves Better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 19:43:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20278786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaPaladin/pseuds/PandaPaladin
Summary: Friends, lovers, or enemies, the Luthors always had a complicated history with the Supers. Lillian Luthor would go to the extremes to prevent her only daughter from running off with one. Because if they marry, she'd definitely have to kill Kara.





	To Keep You Safe, Dear

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this gem of a video!](https://airstripyaks.tumblr.com/post/187044730286/a-bunch-of-us-supercorps-chipped-in-to-get-brenda) I wrote this in a couple of hours (therefore you can honestly call this a crack fic lmao) and wow getting Tangled lyrics stuck in your head is the easiest thing to happen.
> 
> (Psst, the title is from a lyric in Tangled because Mother knows best.)

The look on her daughter’s face when she entered the office was one Lillian wanted to keep forever. A mixture of surprise, disgust, and genuine curiosity. It wasn’t like she was blaming Lena.

“Close your mouth, dear. You’ll catch flies,” she chastised, heels clicking on the floor as she strode in front of the pristine desk.

“Mother,” Lena began, her tone even. She cleared her throat and sat up straighter. “What are you doing in my office?”

  
“Visiting my daughter, of course,” Lillian said easily, flashing her daughter a creased smile. She clasped her hands in front of her coat, staring right back at Lena with an inscrutable look. 

Scoffing, Lena looked back down at her tablet and considered for a moment. She turned it off and sat back on her desk, eyebrows raised high as in challenge of her own mother. “So you decide to drop by only after months of parading in National City as a free woman?” Her tone was still even. Calculating. Lena was being curt and defensive, which made Lillian sigh.

  
She took a look around Lena’s office. Bare walls and a white desk gave the impression of professionalism, she’ll give her daughter that. On one wall, there were a couple of shelves with personal belongings. Her eyes lingered a second longer on a blonde woman holding Lena by the waist as they posed.

“I may not have been the best mother to you, dear, but we’re still family,” Lillian finally said, willing as much honesty in her voice. 

  
Lena’s raised eyebrows were styled perfectly in question. “What do you need from me?”

“Cutting right to the chase,” Lillian remarked. “You truly are your father’s daughter.”

When Lena kept quiet, Lillian took it as her cue to go on. “I may have felt some… remorse about how I’ve treated you,” she continued. Lena’s face was a practised look of composure. “I came here to apologize for how I’ve been. In fact, I was hoping if you’d like to get some lunch to catch up on L-Corp and your… personal life.”

Lena scrutinized her with a look for a long moment. Then, she burst out laughing. “Mother, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sound so forced in my entire life,” she said with a mocking smile. She crossed her arms neatly and leaned closer to her desk. “But fine. I’ll ask Jess to clear my schedule. Let me grab my coat.”

Lillian wasn’t honestly expecting that to go so nicely. She even had the perfect Plan B: put something in her tea and force a very woozy Lena out of the door, in the name of familial bonding, of course.

Thinking about it now, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.

They were driven to the nearest restaurant they could find, a small sandwich shop that sold caesar salad and greasy ham sandwiches. Lillian didn’t do as much as touch her food when it was placed in front of them.

Lena, on the other hand, dug straight into her salad. It mused Lillian to see her daughter finding such repulsive food so… edible. “Have you been here before?” Lillian finally spoke up, clearing her throat. She folded the napkin in her lap.

  
“A couple of times,” Lena admitted. She pierced another piece of her salad with a fork. The customers around them were bustling about, paying them no mind at all. “On my breaks, I’d come here with a friend for a quick bite. Their food is infinitely better than the ones you used to make us eat when I was little.”

  
Lillian brushed Lena’s comment off by thinking it was a joke. Surely, it was. “Which friend?” she quizzed, cementing a practiced smile on her face in an attempt to look more friendly. 

Lena didn’t answer her for a second. “Kara,” she said hesitantly. 

Lillian tried not to scoff. “I’m not going to do anything to her,” she told her daughter. “If I was, I would’ve done something already.”

  
“Very comforting, thank you,” Lena answered sardonically.

“It is,” Lillian confirmed. Her smile became a bit more genuine. “I’m just out here for a regular lunch with my daughter. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  
Lena’s curled lips gave way to amusement. “Take a bite then.”

  
“Excuse me?”

  
Lena pointed at her untouched sandwich, already sliced diagonally for her to reveal parts of processed cheese and soggy ham. Lillian tried not to balk looking at it. “If you really want to have lunch with your daughter, then eat your food,” Lena said, her tone upholding a challenge. “Unless you didn’t mean it, did you, Mother?” she added innocently.

  
“Of course I meant it, dear. I love spending time with you,” Lillian said as sweetly as she could. She tried not to look down as she picked up the sandwich (with her _ bare hands_) and took a nimble bite. “Oh! What a… an odd texture,” she commented, trying not to wince and make the chewed piece roll off her tongue.

  
Satisfied and clearly amused, Lena laughed. “So, what do you want to know about me?” she mused.

Trying to wipe the sudden grin off her face, Lillian thought of the first question that popped into any sensible mother’s head. “Are you seeing someone, Lena?”

Lena nearly dropped the salad on her fork. “What? _ Seeing— _? Mother, I’m busy,” she stammered out, clearly swerving away from the question. Lillian had opened her mouth like a venus fly trap and just like a fool, Lena took the bait. She tried not to smile too much.

  
“Who’s the lucky guy? Is it that handsome stand-in for Cat Grant?” she questioned. “Or perhaps the—”

  
“No, God. No,” Lena interrupted, shaking her head like it was the worst news she’s ever heard in her entire life. Her face mirrored Lillian’s when she first took a bite of her sandwich. Utter disgust. “James is— _ no_.”

  
Lillian couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “Goodness, Lena. I was just teasing you. Who’s the real suitor? A mother can’t help but wonder when she’s having grandchildren, after all.”

Lena, for once in Lillian’s life, looked uncomfortable. Usually, the girl knew how to keep her composure. Even as a child, she didn’t act as bratty as the other kids. Lex’s influence, maybe. Or maybe hers, she mused. And another unfamiliar pang of guilt struck her gut. 

  
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re dating someone I wouldn’t approve of, Lena,” she said accusingly. “Who is it? A freelance photographer? Paparazzi? A flat-earther?”

  
Lena laughed, though it fell flat on the ears. She was digging around in her salad. When Lillian squinted, she could see that her daughter’s hands were shaking ever so slightly. “Mother, I think I need to get back to work,” she said, her voice a little strained.

  
Lillian arched an eyebrow. Then her eyes flicked down to Lena’s hands. They were fashioned with several rings, some of them simple bands and others bringing a shiny look. Her nails were trimmed, manicured obviously, but very, _ very _short.

Her lips curved at the edges. “Oh, that’s fine,” she said dismissively. When Lena made a move to get up from her seat, she added, “They do say lesbians have a higher success rate with orgasms. I’m glad you’re taking advantage of that.”

Lena’s head turned to look at her so quickly that Lillian hoped she would get checked for whiplash. “Don’t look at me like I have three heads, dear, I’m just not as ignorant as you think I am,” Lillian accused her lightly. Lena’s mouth slightly agape, she smirked to herself and gestured for Lena to come sit. Lena sat back down, almost obediently.

Surprisingly, Lillian did the first thing that came to mind. She reached over and took Lena’s hands in hers. “Love is love, dear. I don’t care who you’re with as long as they know you’re the brilliant Luthor that you are,” she began. Lena’s eyes were glossed in a thin layer of tears, a weakness that Lillian had always berated her for. “So, who’s the lucky lady? You know, if she breaks your heart, I have a steady supply of lethal poison ready for her.”

Lena’s small smile still looked a little nervous. 

“Well? Spit it out, Lena,” Lillian said, a little impatiently. 

There was a sudden gust of wind and none other than Supergirl had made her entrance to stand confidently beside Lena. Onlookers looked over at them in hushed tones, some of them taking pictures at the welcome sight. Hands on her hips and lips crooked in a puzzled expression, Supergirl said, “Is there a problem here, Miss Lu— um, Lena?”

  
Lena’s demeanor shifted 180 degrees. There was a pleasant smile on her face that fully reached her eyes, and it rang alarm bells inside Lillian’s head. “Supergirl,” she said (she purred?) and her hips turned her body around to face the superhero beside her. “What brings you here?”

“I heard your voice down the street while I was patrolling,” Supergirl told her, a puppy-dog grin on her features. She moved her hands away from her hips and when a little girl exclaimed her namesake, Supergirl looked up and waved. Her attention was quickly back on Lena. “And then I heard your mother’s voice so I—” She took in their situation.

Lillian was sitting across her daughter with a relaxed look, her hands still on the table and near Lena’s own. Lena had carefully slid her hands away from her when Supergirl arrived, though it was obvious that there was at least a brief moment of intimacy beforehand.

  
“Is everything okay?” Supergirl frowned, taking a step closer to Lena. “You don’t usually see Lillian unless she wants something from you.” There was a fierce determination in her voice. Protectiveness. Lillian’s alarm bells rang much louder.

  
“It’s fine,” Lena said, waving her off. “Mother just wanted to take me out for lunch. I don’t really think there’s a chance of her killing me in public.”

  
“It could be a slow acting poison. In your drink. But you don’t have a drink so how much have you eaten the—?”

  
“The salad’s fine. She hasn’t even touched it.”

“Accomplices exist, Lena!”

They bickered back and forth, much to some of the bystanders’ amusement. Most of them just turned away, already used to Supergirl’s sudden appearances. However, Lillian was not. She stared at them, nearly tuning out their words, because her gears were turning around in overdrive. 

Half of the city had a crush on Supergirl. She bet it wasn’t different from Lena; in fact, she knew from the moment Lena started talking about Supergirl’s first rescue with her that Lena had quite a celebrity crush. But Supergirl’s openly friendly posture, her daughter’s quirked eyebrows, their gazes that never left each other— this went beyond a crush.

She finally interrupted their conversation and both heads turned to look at her, surprise on their faces as if forgetting she was there at all. Lillian cleared her throat and tossed the napkin over her sandwich.

“Supergirl, I’d advise you not to try and get into Lena’s pants around her mother,” she said calmly. “People are staring.”

* * *

Soon after meeting her daughter’s apparent lover, Lillian got to work. She pulled up a corkboard and drew up diagrams about Supergirl’s identity. She poured herself from article over article about the Girl of Steel’s authenticity. 

She realized it was Kara Danvers when she stopped by CatCo and bumped into the klutz of a reporter. She began apologizing to Lillian profusely, fidgeting with her glasses and a hand on her hips. She noticed the blue underneath Kara’s button-up and made the connection immediately.

When she realized it, she couldn’t help but think of the most wicked plan. After all, when your daughter is dating a Super, the least you can do is try to break them up before jumping the gun and attempting murder.

On their second lunch outing, Lillian only wasted two minutes and twenty-eight seconds to tell her daughter the news.

She sipped precariously and set down her teacup. “Kara Danvers is Supergirl,” she said matter-of-factly, pretending that she wasn’t basically dancing in her house the night before while thinking about telling Lena.

  
But instead of the shock and the denial Lillian waited for, Lena split into a kind smile.

“Oh, you know too?” Lena said happily. She lifted up her cup and stuck out a pinky, as if to mock her mother. “Don’t you think Kara looks so cute in plaid shirts? It matches her eyes.”

Frustrated, Lillian nodded and forced a smile to pretend she was agreeing. She brought her tea up to her lips and devised a different plan.

* * *

After one week, every magazine in National City had her daughter’s face plastered on its front page. _ “A Luthor and a Super!” _one headline cried in Lillian’s hands. Her daughter was posing beside a smirking Supergirl, both of them tangled in each other like a cheesy romance cover. 

Indignant, she marched over to L-Corp with the magazine folded neatly in her tight grip. She burst into Lena’s office without thinking to knock. An irate question was already in her throat, though it died down when she saw the sight before her.

  
Supergirl was sitting where Lena should be, a high-backed office chair that used to belong to her husband. It’s that fact that made Lillian even angrier, enraged that Supergirl was _ defiling _her daughter’s office by somehow convincing Lena to sit on her lap and make out with her right there.

She stood there for what seemed like a whole minute before Supergirl opened her eyes and jumped out of her skin, forehead nearly knocking into Lena’s. Lena turned around and squeaked childishly, jumping off her girlfriend like she was made out of hot coal. “Mother!” she said breathlessly, running her hands down her skirt like _ that _was supposed to do anything. “What— what are you doing here?”

  
“Well, I was going to ask you why on Earth you told everyone on this planet you were dating _ her,” _Lillian started, pointing an accusing finger in Supergirl’s direction, “but then I saw this and now I don’t think that’s a top priority for me.”

Supergirl grinned apologetically, rubbing the back of her neck. “We got, um, caught two days ago by the police. So we thought issuing an official statement would be better than letting every news outlet in the city fight over rumors,” Supergirl breathed out, eyes still wide from the adrenaline. She still sat there. Mocking her, Lillian bet. She didn’t ask for more details, mostly afraid of hearing more of her daughter’s… experiences. “And I mean, it’s not all bad. I didn’t get caught as Kara so Kara Danvers is still gossip free.”

  
She definitely didn’t expect the smirk on Lena’s face. She still looked crude and crinkled from making out with the Super in her office, but the light in her eyes played with a teasing fire. “Plus, I think Kara liked posing with her body against me,” she said sensually. She dragged a finger over Supergirl’s shoulder. “I didn’t mind it either. Her body feels—”

  
“Lena!” Supergirl squawked. 

In a flurry, Lillian took out the small pistol from her boot and squeezed the trigger three times, hitting all three bullets directly against Supergirl’s emblem.

Shocked, both her daughter and Supergirl looked over at her. Lena had her hand squeezed tight on Kara’s shoulder. Kara gingerly touched her chest and looked down at the floor where the three ricocheted bullets laid.

“Bulletproof! I knew it,” Lillian said hurriedly. She coughed and put her pistol in her coat’s pocket. “I was just making sure.”

  
She thought right then and there that she was going to find a way to subdue Supergirl. Saying that she was going to kill her seemed too harsh, she mused. 

* * *

She was invited to Lena’s gala not long after that. After Supergirl was ushered out of the office, Lena yelled at her for what she did, though she didn’t seem as angry as Lillian thought. “It was regular bullets and she’s practically made out of steel, Mother, so no I’m not angry about the fact you tried to murder my girlfriend because it’s typical of you, but more like because it was in the middle of my _ office_,” Lena had told her hotly. “If you want to try and kill her, do it in your own time.”

Lillian knew the implications. Her daughter didn’t think of her as much as a threat as everybody else. She held her chin high and took a champagne glass from a passing waiter. She’ll show her. _ Sure, _ fine, she was getting a little soft, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t _ try. _

Kara and Lena were nearly mushed together, joined at the hip. They traveled around the gala like they were a package deal, laughing together and socializing together. No one found it strange, except for Lillian. She wondered if people were already too used to their affectionate antics. She wondered if those same people ever considered the thought that they were dating, because as subtle as they tried to be, Kara and Lena were just too damn affectionate. 

Lillian nearly broke the glass she held when she saw Kara playfully plant a kiss on her daughter’s cheek before darting off to get them something.

She took it as her chance and sauntered over to Lena. “Lena,” she said with mock surprise. “I was looking for you. Come and give your mother a hug.”

Lena complied, although a little awkwardly. They made small talk about the people at the party before Kara arrived too soon, two flutes in her hands. She gave one to Lena and they clinked glasses and giggled. It almost made Lillian want to roll her eyes. 

  
“So, uh, Lillian,” Kara said with a bright tone. She turned to face Lillian carefully. “We haven’t really met on the right foot, so I was hoping you could give me a second chance?”

Her words surprised Lillian. In fact, it made her stumble slightly on her words. “Oh,” she said with a blink. “I— yes. You’re right. Though I should be the one apologizing to you, I’ve done especially awful things,” she added with an incredibly exaggerated tone of sorrow. “Will you forgive me?”

  
“Of course!” Kara’s happy smiles never ceased to amaze her. “Anyway, _ wow. _ Have you tried the potstickers here? I heard they were freshly made this morning, so—”

  
“Kara, darling. Do you think you can find any other topic to talk about that isn’t about potstickers?” Lena asked with a laugh, wrapping her arm around Kara’s waist. Kara turned a subtle shade of pink.

  
While the happy couple continued bickering playfully about the importance/non-importance of potsticker ratings, Lillian produced a small vial from her purse and dropped a couple beads of thallium poison.

Lillian tried not to seem too giddy when Kara took a big gulp of her drink.

  
Ten minutes had passed and there wasn’t so much as a peep from the girl. 

In one excruciating hour, literally nothing had happened. 

Frustrated, Lillian turned around to join another group of people, but her daughter gripped her arm, pulled her back, and asked her to stay for a little longer. Lena laughed, eyes still turned away from her mother, and addressed Kara. “Kara, you’re almost done with your champagne. Can I finish it for you?” she asked sweetly, eyes batting.

  
Panic rose in Lillian when Kara nodded, handing her nearly empty glass over to Lena without a second thought. “No!” When both parties turned to look at her, Lillian politely smiled. “No, Lena dear. I’m afraid that drinking too much alcohol will unsteady your nerves.”

Lena looked amused underneath her furrowed brow and confused look. “I can hold my alcohol better than you think,” she said.

“Yes, but—” Her breath hitched when Lena took Kara’s flute and held it up to her lips. “_No! _No, don’t do that, dear. I found some cider you can try instead.”

“Well, do you want the rest of it then?” Kara asked her politely.

  
“No,” she answered, the word leaving her mouth before the end of Kara’s sentence.

  
Kara gave up and put her glass on the table and waved a familiar face over to their table. They started a happy conversation, something about a Snapper Carr, and Lena smiled next to her girlfriend. She listened quietly to their conversation.

While Lillian tried to calm her nerves, Lena leaned in closer to her. “Next time, pick a stronger poison,” she whispered, a smirk playing on her lips.

* * *

The day after, Lillian devised a plan to make Kara “accidentally” get lost in outer space. She shot a fake missile (covered in kryptonite, of course) up into the sky and Kara followed. She came back to Earth with one more victory under her belt, sporting a new suit designed by Lena that covered her entire head like an astronaut. 

Day after day, Lillian Luthor hatched plan after plan to get rid of Kara Danvers. She even tried being a pacifist and concocted an idea that made it _ seem _like Kara was cheating, with no ideas of a dead Supergirl in sight. She hired a girl to plant a smeared lipstick stain on her neck after fitting her for a formal outfit, Kara too distracted by texting Lena to notice the fitter applying the stain with the side of her fingers. 

  
Lillian accompanied her daughter to the store, feigning absolute shock and disgust after pointing out the obvious mark on Kara’s neck. 

Lena only squinted at it. She licked her thumb and smeared it away, much to Kara’s complete confusion and Lillian’s bewilderment. “What was it?” she asked. 

“Nothing to worry, darling,” Lena had told her, clicking her tongue. “You just accidentally got some of my lipstick on your neck from this morning.”

Lillian should’ve known the tint was Lena’s go-to. 

  
Now, nearly two years of trying to foil her daughter’s superhero girlfriend, she sat in her living room with an iced whiskey and an envelope sealed with the cursive L of the Luthor family name. She opened it and nearly dropped her glass. 

It was an invitation for Lena and Kara’s private wedding, a venue just outside of Midvale.

  
She confronted her daughter when she was getting fit for a dress. “Lena!” she called, her tone syrupy and candied. She walked closer to Lena until she could shut the door behind her for privacy.

“Mother,” Lena greeted, twirling rigidly around with a little smile. Two women were measuring her torso and legs. “How are you?”

“You never told me you and— and that girl are getting married!” she said, flabbergasted and letting go of her doting mother act to the other customers in the shop. The fitters didn’t bother to look up at them. “Your invitation said the wedding is in a month!”

  
Lena looked genuinely surprised. “We never tried to hide the engagement,” she reasoned with her mother, her voice smooth. “I proposed to Kara about two months ago. We even had a party for it and everything.”

Lillian stayed quiet at the news. For the first time, she realized that her daughter had stopped sporting decorative rings and only kept one on her left hand: a simple classy band that fit snugly, the jewel small but reflective of the light. Then she remembered about two months ago, when Lena had called her excitedly in the middle of the night to tell her that there was a party in her apartment, only for her closest friends and well, her mother. 

At the time, Lillian had thought her daughter was inviting her to an aimless celebration. Nothing more. So she declined and wished Lena the best, going back to sleep in the exact moment her head hit the pillow. 

  
She also remembered just a week ago, when she thought she saw Kara squeeze Lena’s hip and announced her as her fiancée. Lillian brushed it off as a nightmare.

“Hmm,” she said in thought, running her thoughts over with a car. And then the car screeched and her thoughts came to a halt. “Wait, _ you _proposed to Kara?” she asked, incredulous again.

Lena’s turned up lips indicated her delight at her mother’s reaction. “Kara is too much of an airhead to do it herself. Or at least not when we’re still young and beautiful,” she said, lifting her arms up at the fitter’s instructions, “Contrary to popular belief, she has _ two _weaknesses, not just one. She starts floundering when she sees me kneeling.”

Lillian pursed her lips and clutched her purse. Unlike kryptonite, she can’t exploit that weakness, so it meant nothing to her. Her brain racked for other ways to kill Kara before their wedding night. God only knows what happens during the honeymoon.

  
“Mother?” Lena called. 

“Yes, dear?”

  
“Why are you so hellbent on killing my fiancée?”

  
Lillian couldn’t help but throw out a genuine laugh. Again, the fitters paid them no heed. “You tell me, Lena. Why do you think?”

Lena thought about her question for a bit, sucking on the inside of her cheek. “You think that being with her is going to put me in danger,” she finally settled on saying. “Which is why Kara hides her identity, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Dear, if I was worried she was going to put you in danger, I would’ve locked you away from the world,” Lillian said patiently. Lena’s mouth formed a tiny ‘o’. “You’re a Luthor, for God’s sake. You’ve had a target on your back since Lionel took you in.”

“And then why are you so against me being with Kara?”

  
Lillian gave her a curt smile. “There are much better people on the planet, Lena,” Lillian said carefully. “Sure, she can protect you a lot better than the force of two militaries, but who protects your heart from her? Dear, she may be National City’s hero but she can’t be yours too.”

* * *

On the night of their wedding, Lillian got to meet Lena’s eccentric friends.

There was a young man that smiled oddly at her, always playing with his neck tie and telling James that he needed help making a last minute present. There was a man and a girl walking side by side, who told her that they were happy to see her (the man had eyed her up and down and flatly said, “I feel as if there’s a 58% chance you’re enjoying yourself today”). A tall, broad-chested man shook her hand and introduced him as John, though he chuckled and told her that it wasn’t spelled the same way she thought. A brooding red-headed girl was making small talk with other guests.

She met Kara’s foster mother halfway through the night, a serene lady named Eliza, who took her hands very carefully and expressed her joy of how their daughters were finally uniting. 

  
Eliza saw the doubt in her eyes and the scoff that itched at her throat. She smiled warmly at Lillian. “I know it’s scary to watch your daughter hand off their heart to a different person. But trust me, I’ve seen the way they look at each other. I’ve heard Kara talk about her, how much she loves your daughter, and I couldn’t be more confident that they’ll protect one another.”

Lillian only nodded stiffly at her and was very thankful when someone tapped her shoulder to talk to her about the food.

About half an hour before the ceremony began, there was a loud boom and a blue streak crossed overhead. 

Confused, Lillian lowered her drink and looked up, trying to follow where the blur had gone off to. Beside her, the red-haired lady, who Lillian had come to learn was Alex, was talking quietly into a radio. “It’s Lena,” she finally said to the concentrated group around the food. Those two words gripped Lillian’s heart like a vice, turning her blood into cold crystals. 

  
“What happened to Lena?” James demanded.

“I— I don’t know. Kara isn’t responding.”

  
“Doesn’t she have an earpiece?”

  
“Yes, but—” Alex growled under her breath and tapped incessantly at her ear. “She won’t copy. She never does that.”

The words were held high above their heads. The group was quiet, unsure of how to proceed, until J’onn took the reigns and started ordering people around. He told Lillian and Eliza to get to the penthouse (an alternative in case it started to rain), but both mothers refused to cooperate. He directed them with a couple other people instead, asking them to stand under the gazebo and look at the sky for signs of Supergirl.

  
For nearly an hour, Lillian Luthor waited with bated breath. Her nails dug painfully into the wood of the gazebo, Eliza rubbing soothing circles on her back. Blood thrummed into her ears, coming in hot waves with every pulse of her heart.

They finally informed her that her daughter was attacked. Ambushed, in the penthouse not too far from where they were. Kara had heard her the moment she screamed and came barreling in without a second thought. She was restrained with kryptonite, an obvious ploy to get the poor Kryptonian. 

From Winn’s enthusiastic rundown, Lillian learned that Kara had _ fought back _the kryptonite. Lena had outwitted their captors and tossed away Kara’s weakness, the pair fighting back with a fervor and harmony Lillian had never seen in two people. Whenever Kara went low, Lena went high— that kind of thing. 

Unfortunately, Lena had sustained a concussion and was admitted to a hospital ward for further examination.

When Lillian arrived, Kara was already there, a heartbroken expression on her face while she held Lena’s hand, her thumb swiping across Lena’s knuckles in slow, articulate movements. She didn’t look up to see Lillian when she came in. No greeting either. She only pursed her lips, eyes trained on the bed-ridden girl.

Lillian took a cautious step closer, but again, Kara made no movement to acknowledge her. 

Instead, Kara brought Lena’s hand up to her lips, planting a gentle kiss on the fingers, before setting it down with the same care. “Wake up soon, okay?” Kara said softly, laughing almost wetly. It sounded closest to a small sob. “You’re a Luthor. Luthors don’t quit.”

Lillian’s heart tilted to the side. Curious, she stayed where she was and watched Kara.

“I know— I know you’re gonna say I’m overreacting when you wake up,” she said fiercely, both her hands on Lena’s unconscious fingers, “but, _ Rao, _ seeing someone hit you like that nearly broke me in half. I can’t lose you, Lena. I’ll keep protecting you no matter what. Please, _ please, _I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Kara’s broken, shattered tone forced an epiphany into Lillian’s head. The way she hushed down on Lena’s name reminded Lillian of how people uttered silent prayers. Kara’s trembling features, her begging eyes— it became clear to Lillian that she only spoke the raw truth. 

Kara Danvers had given her heart away to Lena. Over the sharp barbs of Kara’s protected walls, she did everything in her power to provide Lena with everything she needed.

Then Kara’s voice came along again, more hushed, more unsteady, as if it were a confession only ever spoken through the private screens of a home. “I chose you over the world, and I would do it all over again.”

Lillian’s eyes flicked over to the quiet television mounted on the wall. It displayed a depiction of a satellite, carefully making its way around the globe. The quiet voices on the TV spoke about how Supergirl was nowhere to be seen for the near destruction of Earth. Superman had to face almighty amounts of kryptonite on his own as he painfully dragged the satellite of their orbit, causing it to explode in amber sparks.

A little gasp escaped her lips, and she immediately faced her attention back to Kara. Kara still wasn’t looking at her. She only had eyes for Lena.

* * *

Kara and Lena were rightfully suspiciously for being invited out for dinner with Lena’s dear mother. The moment they stepped foot into Lillian’s humble abode, they wore twin looks of skepticism. 

Lillian only smiled and let them take a seat by each other, pouring them a full glass of tea. 

The girls wasted no time in becoming much more unfettered than when they came in. They laughed with Lillian and traded stories about their jobs, Lillian merrily piping in like a doting mother to tell them to be safer for goodness’ sake. 

“You’re not gonna try and kill me now?” Kara joked, yet her voice was rather hesitant, like she knew that there was a very good chance that Lillian could be pulling something right this instant. 

“Why would I?” Lillian smiled at her and poured her some more tea. “What kind of mother-in-law would I be?”

Lena could barely contain her laughter. “A Luthor, Mother.”

  
Lillian only quirked an eyebrow at her daughter. “Tell me, Kara,” she said graciously. She faced her wide-eyed daughter-in-law. “Does Lena do anything else that involves kneeling?” 

**Author's Note:**

> Come throw tomatoes at me in the comments or my Tumblr @cosmiccaptain!! I'm already 7000 words deep in another fic I'm writing whoops.


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